We do not sell electric tools.
We think they are a great form of environmentally-friendly machines and endeavour
to provide an unbiased source of information about them. With recent advances in
battery technology, we think battery electric tools are poised to explode onto the
market as quiet, efficient devices that will replace their gasoline-powered counterparts.
We do sell Soneil battery chargers, which are ideal
as chargers for electric tools as they are compact, lightweight, intelligent, affordable
and carry safety certifications for North America and internationally.

Mowers

Is there any sound in suburbia more annoying than the
neighbour's gasoline-powered lawn mower on a Sunday morning when
you have about another half-hour before you have to get up? The
city of Brussels in Belgium has actually outlawed the use of
internal-combustion powered mowers on Sundays. Another less
drastic solution seem desirable? Given we cannot redesign the
world to eliminate lawns, there are quiet lawn mowers that do not
damage our environment as much as gasoline-power mowers. If you
have the energy and stamina, and a small enough lawn, by all means
use a human-powered mower, like the traditional reel mowers or
even a scythe, or if your zoning permits, a grazing animal. If
this is not practical, then consider a corded electric walk-behind
lawn mower which are sold by dozens of companies, and are usually
cheaper to purchase and maintain than gasoline walk-behind mowers
and are available from a large number of manufacturers. If the
area you are mowing makes corded mowers impractical, perhaps a
cordless (battery powered) electric walk-behind mower would fit
the bill. These are available from
Black
& Decker, Ryobi, Sears, Noma, Neuton, Remington
and undoubtedly others. Black & Decker was making cordless
(battery-powered) electric reel-type mowers back in the 1970's
that operated on 12 volts.

For some additional information on the subject of zero-emission
lawn-care, check out the Clean
Air Mowing Company website. This organization believes in the
advantages of electric and push-mowers and carry the products that
make it possible. If you can't find what you want at the local
hardware store, perhaps Clean Air Mowing can supply what you are
looking for.

Several people have converted dead gasoline-powered mowers to
electric power, both corded
and cordless versions (lawnmower information is at the bottom of
the linked page). If the disposable engine on your mower
should die, and the rest of the unit is in good condition, you
might consider this type of conversion yourself.

If you require more mowing capacity than a walk-behind mower
can provide, then you should look into ride-on mowers, which are
covered below under the heading of tractors.

An interesting variant on the corded electric mower was the
Grassmasters' Lawn Pup,
a smaller, lighter mower designed for use on small lawns (e.g.
townhouses, condominiums) or by those who find the conventional
size mower to be too large for them to operate comfortably.
This mower may have become the Bully Lawnpup in recent years.

There are even automatic electric lawn mowers that operate
using sunlight. Solar cells on the top power the mower, which mows
in random patterns whenever there is sunlight within the
boundaries set by fences or a buried signal wire. The Weed Eater
Robotic Solar Mower was introduced to the market in 1994. The
Solar Turtle is also available from Real Goods. There are now
several brands and models available.

The Robomow is a
conventionally charged electric mower that operates automatically,
mowing the lawn without need of your assistance. Some setup is
required to establish the lawn perimeter. After that, charge it,
move it into place, let it go. Once it is done, put it away and
plug it in again. The Toro iMow was a similar product.
Robomower Wiki"

A gasoline-powered lawnmower can produce as much air pollution
as a car engine, while producing only a small fraction of the
useful power. According to an Energy
Partners, Inc. press release, a gas-powered lawn mower
produces as much smog in 20 hours of operation as a 1996 car after
driving 26,000 miles. What better reason could there be for
choosing an electric appliance over a gasoline-powered one when
replacement time rolls around?

One interesting variation on the electric lawnmower was
produced by Astro Electric of Sault Ste. Marie ON in the 1970's
and early 1980's. This was a battery-operated, walk-behind power
unit which supported different application attachments including a
lawn mower, a vacuum, a snow-blower or a compressor. Similar to
garden tractors in versatility, but better suited to applications
where the tractor would be too large to accomplish the task.

Tractors

I know it's an arbitrary decision, but I have grouped ride-on
mowers here with electric tractors.

This is a new entry in the field (as of March 2005). Their
prototype is a conversion of a gas-powered garden tractor. The
operation is based in Ontario, Canada.

Gorilla

If your requirement is primarily towing (trailers, implements),
consider the Gorilla
as an option. 24-volt and 36-volt versions are available. There
are options for trailer hitches and electric PTO (Anderson
connector) to drive 24 or 36-volt implements.

General Electric Elec-Trak

The Elec-Trak electric tractor was built by General Electric in
Schenectady, New York in the 1960's and 1970's. It is no longer
produced. Several models were produced, including: the E8M (8 hp);
the E10M (10 hp); the E12 and E12M (12 hp); the E15 (14 hp); the
E16 (an upgraded version of the E15), and the E20 (16 hp). The E8M
was more a ride-on mower than a tractor. There was also an ER8-36
ride-on mower in the Elec-Trak line. The "M" suffix on
some models indicated the ability to accommodate a mid-mounted
(belly) mower. Available attachments included: mid-mounted (belly)
mower; front-mounted rotary mower; front or rear-mounted ganged
reel mowers; lawn sweeper; electric rake; manual or electric rear
implement lifts (electric front lift is standard); snow-thrower;
snow cab; snow/dozer blade; V-plow blade; roto-tiller; disk
harrow; row crop cultivator; roller aerator; lawn roller; dump
cart; vacuum; and, powered rotary broom. There were also
hand-operated powered attachments available including a chainsaw,
cultivator and hedge-trimmer. A rotary converter was also
available to produce 115-volts AC to power other electric
appliances.

The I-5 was the industrial version of the Elec-Trak, also made
by GE. It was orange instead of yellow, had fenders over the front
wheels, and a more moulded set than the E## versions. Apart from
these differences, they were virtually identical. There were also
Wheel Horse and New Idea models produced following the Elec-Trak
designs after GE got out of the business.

Many of these machines are still in operation, and their owners
tend to be enthusiastic about the capabilities, longevity and lack
of maintenance required by these machines.

Parts and Manuals

There are still several sources of parts, manuals and service
for Elec-Trak and related electric tractors.

Regrettably, Bill Gunn of Technical Services and Parts has
elected to stop doing business in parts for electric tractors (May
2004). This company acquired the jigs, blueprints and inventory
from Wheel Horse after GE passed these things onto Wheel Horse.
Technical Services and Parts re-manufactured tractors and parts.
As owners find new resources, we will try to update the relevant
information here.

The Elec-Trak Owners' Club
Website has a classified section and lots of good information
on the GE, Wheelhorse and New Idea versions of these venerable
electric tractors.

Clean Power (Harold Zimmerman) has a reasonable stock of parts.
Contact Harold at (717) 859-4234 or via e-mail at cleanpower (at) att.net.
He is based in Ephrata, PA.

The Electric Tractor Store
carries a wide range of parts for the vintage GE, (AVCO) New Idea, and
Wheelhorse electric tractors. They also have a new ride-on electric mower.

Please contact me
if you have or require additional information regarding parts for
Elec-Trak. I will continue to add to this list as I am provided
with information, and may occasionally be aware of limited sources
of second-hand parts acquired by enthusiasts.

Electric Tractor Corporation

The Electric Tractor Corporation made the Model #9620 electric
tractor. The major attachments available included a gang mower, a
snow blower, a plow blade and a wheelbarrow. A roto-tiller and
vibrating rake were under development. The tractor will run with
the lawn mower attachment for up to 4 hours on a single charge
using 6 standard lead-acid golf-cart batteries. 120 volt AC power
is also available on-board to power standard AC tools such as
hedge trimmers, line trimmers, etc. There is a 3-year warranty on
all parts and labour except the batteries and tires. Batteries and
tires are warranted separately by their manufacturers. As of 1999,
the 9620 is no longer produced, however, as of January 2000, there
are still 2 units available for sale.

In February 1997, Electric Tractor Corporation announced the
Model #9718, a more conventional version of the garden tractor,
but still all-electric. As of 1999, this vehicle is no longer
being produced.

In 1999, ETC began production of the Electric Ox tow tractor,
and late in 1999 introduced the Electric Ox Multi-Purpose which is
capable of carrying a front-mounted mower deck or a plowing blade.
Snowblower and rotary brush attachments are expected in early
2000.

There was a good write-up (and photo) about Electric Tractor
Corporation in the May 1997 issue of Canadian Business magazine in
the Niches column (last inside page). In the article, Newton
Gingerich, Chair of Electric Tractor Corporation is quoted as
saying "Even a (gasoline-powered) push lawnmower that
runs for an hour pollutes as much as a car driven 800 kilometres.
(500 miles)" (text in parentheses added).

Jacobsen

Jacobsen makes a line of lawn maintenance equipment targeted at
the golf course market. Some of these are available in
electric or hybrid versions.

Other Makes

While the Elec-Trak (and the follow-on New Idea and Wheel Horse
models) were the most popular electric tractors in the 1970's,
there appear to have been some others: Jacobsen Mark IV; John
Deere Electric 90 (electric version of an existing gasoline
powered ride-on mower in the John Deere line); and J.C.Penney
Model 1806. There may also have been units available from: Roper;
Sears (Cover from Owner's Manual for 1974
Sears Electric Lawn Tractor and Mower); MTD; and Rugg. New
Idea had a range of models: EGT 80, 100, 120 and 150. Wheel Horse
had E-81 and E-141 models of ride-on mowers. There was even an
International Harvester Cub Cadet 95 at one time, an electric
conversion of an existing model.

Some people have converted small tractors that were originally
powered by gasoline or diesel engines to electric power. These
have ranged from lawn and garden tractors to small farm tractors
like the Farmall Cadet.

Tillers and Cultivators

A correspondent tells me he owns a small battery-operated
cultivator made by Mantis. He got his unit in approximately 1990.
Based on correspondence with the company, they stopped producing
this unit for many years, but restarted production in 2001.
Unfortunately, as of late 2002, all signs of the electric Mantis
tiller have disappeared from the Mantis website again. Even during
the short time it was available on the website, I could not obtain
one in Canada. The local distributor said Mantis was not prepared
to get CSA certification for the electric model.

In 2002, Remington (Desatech) produced an electric tiller called the Garden
Wizard.

Line Trimmers

Line trimmers (often referred to as weed-eaters or
weed-whippers), are available as both corded and cordless (battery
operated) electric models. If you are working within easy range of
an outlet, the corded types are usually cheaper and don't run out
of charge. If outlets are not handy, battery-powered models
usually have easily exchanged batteries so that freshly charged
packs can be used to replace a pack that has become discharged
through use.

Cordless versions are available from Black & Decker, Ryobi,
Sears, Toro and Weed Eater. Corded versions are made by Weed
Eater, Black & Decker, Toro and many others.

Hedge Trimmers

Corded and cordless (battery operated) electric hedge trimmers
are available commercially. While corded versions won't run out of
charge, hedge trimmers seem to have an uncanny inclination to
slice their own power cords. Cordless versions are available from
Black & Decker (model CTH600). Corded models are available
from several manufacturers.

Blowers (Power Broom)

While the truly noisy and annoying gasoline versions of these
tools are all too common, the electric versions still seem fairly
rare. Shop Vac has a corded version that comprises part of one of
their vacuum cleaner units and separates from the collection unit
for use. Poulan Outdoor products has a cordless unit called the
Weed Eater Vroom. According to promotional material, the Vroom
uses an internal 12-volt battery, weighs in at 7.2 pounds and
produces air velocities of up to 105 mph. Black & Decker has
introduced a Versa-Pak version of a hand-held blower.

Chainsaws

Electric chainsaws are a great alternative to gasoline
buzz-bombs for most household tasks - just plug in and go. No
trouble getting it started, no need to lug around mixed gasoline,
dry and clean or change fouled plugs or breathe that foul 2-cycle
engine exhaust. Outside of those of you making a living in the
logging industry, how often do you use a chainsaw more than 150
feet (50 metres) from an electrical outlet? There are number of
firms that produce corded electric chainsaws (normally 110-volt AC
and less than 15 amps). Mine is a Remington, others include
McCulloch, Wen, etc. An interesting variant on the electric
chainsaw is the Remington Pole Saw; a small, light electric chain
saw mounted on the end of a pole, it really extends the reach of
the operator by means of a telescoping pole that extends from 6 to
12 feet.

For information on Remington electric chainsaws, including
technical support, contact DESA
International. (Remington/Desatech seems to be less and less
helpful as time passes.) For more information on the McCulloch line, see
the McCulloch
site. (From their home page, navigate to products and chainsaws.
They change their URLs so often I have given up trying to keep up.)

E-mails to Wen customer service regarding their chainsaws now
get this response.

WEN IS STILL IN BUSINESS, UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP. BUT WE SOLD THE
CHAIN SAW LINE TO WAGNER POWER PRODUCTS SEVERAL YEARS AGO. YOU CAN
REACH THEM AT 1-800-962-6118. MAYBE THEY CAN HELP YOU.

THANK YOU

WEN CUSTOMER SERIVCE

So, for information on where to get Wen electric chainsaw parts
or service, try Wagner's tollfree number (1-800-962-6118, EXT.
7950).

The Minibrute was produced by Tensen in the 1970's in Portland
OR. Picture of the Minibrute
(colour - 17k)Brochure for the
Minibrute (colour - 164k)Additional information,
especially on availability of parts or qualified repair operations
would be appreciated.

Several people have written to me about the MiniBrute electric
chainsaw. It does operate on 12 volts DC. There are apparently
quite a few still in service. The switches appear to be a weak
point for these units; several people have written asking where
they can get replacement switches. Another correspondent has told
me that the switches were designed to be the weak point, in order
to save the motors from burning out; we agree a circuit breaker or
a fuse would have been a better solution. The 12 volt DC electric
motor was a product of American Bosch in Columbus MS. One
correspondent reports that the unit he has carries a model number,
casted in the motor housing, (1730722M030MM).

2005.03.11 – This just in from a correspondent in
Tonopah, NV. He writes they have "a
Minibrute chainsaw that toasted the trigger switch. After
countless hours of anguished searching he found a replacement
switch in an obscure out of the way hardware store in Bishop,
Calif. (High Country Lumber Ace Hardware 760-873-5874) The switch
is made by or for Hillman Fastener, Cincinnati,OH. The Ace
Hardware P/N is 55353-A for a "Heavy duty,extended
lever,power tool switch,w/o lock" 125/250 volt AC 16/8 amp
rated. The P/N for a switch with a lock is 55355. The price for
this switch was $6.50. Lock pin can be removed to install in the
saw. He does not think that this switch will out live the other
switch (he did buy two) without some further protection. Before
operating the saw he will install a 12 volt solenoid (Napa Echlin
P/N ST80 $37.70) continuous duty to control the power to the saw,
using the switch to energize the solenoid via an added third wire.
The solenoid will be located at the batt. + terminal, along with a
12 volt circuit breaker. Be advised that because the saw is 12
volt positive ground (saw case is positive!) operation touching
any metal on the vehicle can cause a direct short burning up the
newly purchased switch."

If one wanted a cordless chainsaw, you could use an EnerPak
portable power supply (or another healthy inverter and battery
combination) to power one away from the grid.

The Elec-Trak tractors had a 36-volt chainsaw that operated off
the tractor battery pack.

A new entry in the cordless electric chain saw market is
Makita, with their Model
UC170DWD - 12V Cordless Chain Saw. It is designed to cut
plastic pipe with a short 6-inch bar. A competitor for the Makita
unit was the Hobuy CCS-1-115 cordless chain saw (at least until 2009). These do not appear to be
designed for cutting or trimming trees or lumber.

Ice Augers

Ice fishing has long been associated with the roar of small
gasoline engines use to power ice augers, filling ice shacks with
noxious fumes. An electric auger is a convenient alternative, like
the Strikemaster
Electralazer.

Snowblowers

There have not been many electric snowblowers worthy of the
name. However, we have just acquired a Toro Power Curve 1800
(corded, 12-amps) unit. Others have reported satisfaction with the
top-end Toros. My previous experience with a couple of Sunbeam
units from the 1970s were not good. So, we'll see how it goes with
the Toro.